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After a year together, Sissy and I have grown very close. Last night I slept on the couch. She crept up onto me to cuddle and sleep on my chest. She stayed all night ranging up and down, eventually sprawling out very long and was still there when I woke up. She's become very attached.

We have yet another outdoor cat, Bastian, who followed Kitten home from her new job at the Arabian breeding farm. They had too many barn cats and Bastian was the one that got really attached to her. He follows her around like a dog, whenever she's outside he's right there next to her. Not unfriendly but not as overwhelmingly friendly to strangers as Jackie or Calcifer are. He's a sweet boy who looks like he could be China Princess's baby brother.

The past few days have been bitter cold around here. No snow, everything still looks like late fall with dried grass and weeds, evergreens, bare trees some with clumps of brown dead foliage. Today is supposed to be warmer. I sure hope it is, it's been really hard lately.

I have an art guild in my little town. I was a member, but dropped out because they don't ever seem to do anything. I did have my own show for a month there a couple of years ago, but they didn't put a sign in the window announcing it until about two weeks into the show. I sold a piece from that show, but outside of the guild, on my own. I walked in one day and one of the volunteers was sleeping on the sofa in the lobby. I became very disheartened and didn't renew my membership. My question is: How would one go about reviving this establishment, without stepping on too many toes? They have offered classes in the past, but nothing in pastel. I suggested that once and they pounced on me to teach a class. I'm not qualified to do that, yet! It just seems like it could be a wonderful place if it wasn't for the same old tired people and tired routine. I would like to join again, but there doesn't seem to be much benefit from it.

You could jump in and teach the class. Just introduce the medium. Bring some materials and let people try it. Show some basic techniques as a demo.

It doesn't take having a degree to teach a beginner class, it takes figuring out what you needed to know most as a beginner and throwing that together. People sometimes get a lot just out of someone reading a textbook aloud. Find a good beginner book to refer to and quote when you put the class together and set up a demo exercise with a very easy subject that's not hard to draw or render, but shows the beginner techniques of blending, scumbling, linear marks, hatching and layering.

I jumped into teaching classes decades ago with no experience and people liked them. It's a matter of not being shy and putting in the basic information - which is the same in almost all beginner classes or books, so skim a few to get ideas for what to demo.

That'd be the best way to get it going and push it in a pastelist direction. The thing with pastels is that they're Instant Gratification. If they can draw at all they'll come up with something attractive from the demo. If the demo exercise has good design, it'll be something they can mat and hang.

CM... quite the dilemma to be sure. Galleries and art clubs are fickle. Might I relate a... shall we say, disappointing experience with a local Art League and gallery.
I joined straight away at the start of their "annual" term. There was a gentleman member that I knew from a previous community volunteer service(volunteer fire dept.) I never knew he was an artist or more to the point a HS art instructor. I would have liked to see his work or speak with him but he never attended the weekly meetings. From this group I was introduced to 2 local galleries to which several of my recent pieces were accepted. Then to my dismay we, the members, were given an "assignment" to do a painting for a bank showing. I apologized and opted not to participate because I do not do that "type" of art. The following Monday evening when I walked in to the next meeting it was being openly advertised that I had not participated, "Because he doesn't DO that type of art...". It was embarrassing and I felt more or less " shamed" into quitting the league. Next day, Tuesday I received phone messages asking me to come pick up my art from the galleries. How is that for a "kick in the pants". Never got the "bum's rush" before. Since then I have been turned down for local art shows so I'm trying now to sell online. No success yet. I think I may be too old for this anymore. Seems I've lost my edge. I guess that took the wind out my sails.
Not feeling a bit sorry for myself, mind you... I'm just sympathizing with your situation.
Steven

__________________
"I seem to do better work by accident than I actually do on purpose."

It makes me sad that Steven and Christine have not had a satisfying experience with an art league or society. I've been a member of the local pastel society for more years than I can remember. I've also been on the board and volunteered for more years than I can remember, but I enjoy it. The members are very supportive and our annual shows push us to excel. I did belong to another very old local art association, all mediums included. It was very active. Are there any pastel societies near you? Pastel artists tend to encourage and challenge one another.

That bites, Steven. I can easily imagine I'd have met the same problem with them, since I don't do certain types of things and will stop short of participating in anything that demands I do. Very frustrating. I've only once bent and done an artwork I should have refused, the net result was that I worked three months on something that paid one month's rent and it still never came out right according to the buyer. It's a bad idea.

Hope you can find or found a better group. It's possible to start something too, not all that hard if you know others disgruntled with that first group.

CM... quite the dilemma to be sure. Galleries and art clubs are fickle. Might I relate a... shall we say, disappointing experience with a local Art League and gallery.
I joined straight away at the start of their "annual" term. There was a gentleman member that I knew from a previous community volunteer service(volunteer fire dept.) I never knew he was an artist or more to the point a HS art instructor. I would have liked to see his work or speak with him but he never attended the weekly meetings. From this group I was introduced to 2 local galleries to which several of my recent pieces were accepted. Then to my dismay we, the members, were given an "assignment" to do a painting for a bank showing. I apologized and opted not to participate because I do not do that "type" of art. The following Monday evening when I walked in to the next meeting it was being openly advertised that I had not participated, "Because he doesn't DO that type of art...". It was embarrassing and I felt more or less " shamed" into quitting the league. Next day, Tuesday I received phone messages asking me to come pick up my art from the galleries. How is that for a "kick in the pants". Never got the "bum's rush" before. Since then I have been turned down for local art shows so I'm trying now to sell online. No success yet. I think I may be too old for this anymore. Seems I've lost my edge. I guess that took the wind out my sails.
Not feeling a bit sorry for myself, mind you... I'm just sympathizing with your situation.
Steven

I kind of felt that way over the monthly show they gave me. They literally begged me to hang my work, then didn't give the advertising for it that they should have. I noticed the next month's artist had advertising right at the beginning of the month of her show. They want people to volunteer at the guild, but it seemed it was always just the same two gentlemen there and they weren't overly friendly. Maybe I just didn't utilize the opportunity properly, like going in and spending an afternoon there painting or sketching. It just seemed like such a waste of my time.

I never knew the local societies could be like that. I had been thinking of joining one here, maybe I'll wade in rather than jump. I need to find new venues to sell, and a little like minded company. I have a rather solitary life, which I like, but it's not necessarily good for marketing artwork. Central Pennsylvania isn't exactly an art hotspot, my sister said we should load up the jeep and head to NYC and sell art out of the hatch. It's starting to sound like a good idea.

Christine, I'm a lousy teacher, I admire anyone that can do it well. I have found people are a lot less hard on you than you are on yourself. I did a short acrylic class at our church, I was awful, but they asked if we could do another one. I believe art is for everyone, classes give people the chance not to be intimidated. I had thought about putting out the idea of an art club, an informal group where people can ask questions and get advice. Now that I can see again, I may just see if there would be interest. Don't underestimate the help you could be for someone who wants to start painting.

I hope everyone thawed form the cold spell. It was nasty here for about a week and now it's in the 40s. Feels like spring, a nice break from my most unfavorite month. I did a million loads of laundry the last couple days so I could hang it out to dry. I love the smell of line dried laundry. It will cool off in a few days but I'm making the most of it.

I realized how tolerant my husband has become of my art side when we were driving along the river in -4 degree tempatures, I wind my window down to take pictures of the frozen river... and he doesn't even give me a funny look.

Brrr our cold spell was just getting started. Last night something in our water system froze and busted, so my Viking son in law stayed home from work to work on the house and try to fix it. Looks like we will need to call an actual plumber. Without water, we all had to trek out to Wal Mart to use the bathroom. So bought plenty of water while we were there.

Adventure, excitement, home repairs, this always seems to happen when we get a bit ahead and gear up for something else. The computer monitor went on the fritz at the same time. It's been a bad week for cold. I had two or three days with no daily art because I was too chilled even inside the house.

But this is supposed to lift. Today was supposed to be the day it'd get warmer but this morning was the worst yet, it was down to five degrees when I got up. Better now but not that great. It's supposed to warm up this evening with a low tonight of 27, which is balmy compared to what the dark cold part of this morning was like.

I hate winter.

Kitten says that it starts warming up in February though. I hope she's right and that we don't get yet another cold wave coming through. Still managed to paint and post an art supply review today.

Well, today is actually balmy by comparison. It's 44 degrees out, my hands don't hurt and I'm finally putting the buttons on my purple doublet for tomorrow when I turn into Adriano di Napoli, Renaissance painter from Italy, teaching Celtic calligraphy. It's almost like a Dr. Who convention in some ways. But not. It's a lot of fun. Not quite like re-enactors who are all re-enacting the same year and battle, it's spread out over the whole middle ages and not just Europe.

My daughter went Persian with her persona, same period. I think some of what got her interested was her Arabian horse, since Ataan is a classic Egyptian Arab. He's gray, which is to say he's a slender white horse with black skin under the fur and in places where the hair's thinner. He is lovely and he likes his fancy getup with the tassels. He shakes his head to watch the shadow of the tassel dance around, that whole thing may have been designed to give your intelligent horse a toy.

Now the other thing I need to do is find where I put a dozen calligraphy pens to make sure I have them with me tomorrow when we go.

I also refilled my fountain pen today, so I'll be doing more blue ink sketching. The Monteverde ink has "ITF technology" which is apparently some chemistry to reduce clogging in fountain pens. My pen made it through an entire cartridge fill without clogging once, even though I sometimes left it capped for several days before writing or drawing with it. So I think that ink advance is a real one. I'm thinking of buying some more next month in other colors, at least get black but maybe also some brown and gray, other good drawing colors.

We still don't have running water, but the Viking son in law is still working on it and says we might have at least cold water in the bath tub if not more. Some pipes froze and a regulator busted and had to be replaced, it's complicated and no plumber was available till Monday so he's consulting YouTube and doing it himself. His usual approach to things.

It's warming up here too. A beautiful sunny break, the snow in the shadows was incredible shades of blue and purple throughout the day.

I remember pipes freezing. I had to keep the water dripping on super cold nights to keep it from freezing. Thankfully nothing ever broke, i hope all gets fixed for you soon. The south really got hit with unusual cold.

I put in a bunch of bulbs this fall, can't wait to see them bloom this spring. I planted some crown imperials and can't wait to photograph them for a painting. Lots of tulips too if the critters dont find and eat the bulbs.

I thought I'd post a new photo of our 10 month old lab Albert. I hope he fills out a little as he matures, right now he's built like a snake. He's very athletic and I'm grateful my older dog plays with him so much or he would drive me crazy. I try to take both dogs hiking everyday, he could use it twice a day. He's a big change from our late lab, Otis, who was fond of napping.

Whew! Major blizzard yesterday and last night! Sent home early from work, which should have been a whole lot earlier than it was! Couldn't get in today. Thankfully we got a snow day with no absence counted for it. Sun's shining today and it's melting, but still some major drifts in areas.